In a sport where luck plays such a big role, it's strange how much more weight people — fans, "analysts", media — place on what drivers GET over what they DO, when evaluating their quality.
The most glaring example I can give of what I mean is probably how Lewis was washed in 2022. And the he wasn't in 2023. And then he was again. And now he isn't once more.
Right now, we are witnessing people lauding a certain driver as a prodigy based solely on the fact that he got five consecutive wins, but has he actually done anything truly impressive?
Despite having a top 4 car for his rookie season and the fastest car by far in the second one, we can count in one hand the number of times he showed something a bit more interesting. We might not even need the full hand. To be honest, what we have really seen him do is keep the car on the track (mostly) and get good results when everything goes right and he isn't challenged in any way. But when things don't go as smoothly he has nothing to show.
Meanwhile, we have seen George and a few other drivers pull really incredible results from subpar machinery and against very difficult circumstances, but because they weren't wins, I guess they count for nothing, right?
This post is just a little rant against the idea that George is washed, in fact, against the idea that he's even challenged by his teammate on a talent basis, at least for now. Because if we look just a little beyond the standings, we can see that, when Kimi gives his all and has a very good performance, occasionally he can beat George, especially if external circumstances get in George's way. When George's on it, thought, he stands no chance. Essentially what I mean is, Kimi's best can, sometimes, juuust edge out George's average, but George's best is untouchable.
I believe George when he says he is not quite connecting with the car. He looks like he is fighting with it all the time. Yet, he still managed to pull a P1 out of his ass in Canada against his teammate who had everything going perfectly on his end.
That's how I personally evaluate drivers: not by what they can get when all is good, but by what they can do when everything is going to shit.
That is why I ended up a GR63 fan.
And that is why I won't stop believing in the GR WDC until it's mathematically impossible.
